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Fountains of the forest – the interconnectedness between trees and fungi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 1998

ALAN D. M. RAYNER
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, U.K.

Abstract

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Perhaps like many other mycologists, my initial encounters with fungi filled me with a desire to engage with mysteries: mysteries embedded in the diversity of form and function in fungi and how this diversity might be related to the life of the forest in which so many of these organisms appear to find their homes. In all good mysteries, the resolution of underlying causes at one level of comprehension only serves to reveal deeper levels for exploration.This can open the way into a cascade that nourishes a growing empathy with fellow beings and so assuages that most fundamental need to have a sense of belonging – to be as one; to be at peace; secure in the knowledge of idiosyncrasies embraced in the fondness of others. I dreamt that fungi would somehow eventually lead me and my fellow travellers down that cascade. I still do.

Type
Presidential Address
Copyright
© The British Mycological Society 1998